If most of you are not aware, the 91X morning show was taken off the air in May 2010. This was a big turn for the station because 91X decided to take a different route from most radio stations. The Mickey show being bought out by 91X’s competitor, 94.9 allowed there to not only be a battle with music but morning shows as well. 91X decided to experiment and strictly play music in the morning to see if the Arbitron ratings would boost. Unfortunately, for Matt Diablo and his witty crew, this method was effective. This is one example of how radio is constantly changing. Due to the technology available, people are more interested in listening to music then people speak. In the past year alone, Jeff and Jer, Dave, Shelly, Chainsaw and now 91X morning show are all history. This shows that the industry are not looking so much for personalities anymore, but people who can just run the technology effectively and properly.
Jenn Young
Sept. 16, 2010
94.5 Burning Man Radio
Burning Man Festival's low-powered radio station has big dreams... and they're doing it!
The Burning Man Festival (BMF) created a low-power radio station to comply with the Bureau of Land Management, which said that the festival needed to have a communication system in place to alert its participants of crucial health and safety issues. The radio station, 94.5 BMIR, started off as an "information" radio station but has currently grown to include 24-hour entertainment throughout the week-long festival. The station's main purpose is still to provide important information to its participants but has recently discovered that, "if you want people to hear key safety messages, you have to create a programming they want to listen to." (Carmen Mauk, Station Founder)
BMIR not only provides news, weather and traffic reports, but now also transmits interviews with artists and participants, plays a wide range of music, and allows participants to make announcements and share the views.
BMIR is no easy accomplishment with the desert's harsh weather. The 100-crew of volunteers are constantly having to "patching things up," not to mention the issue of audience reception. Listeners outside of the five-mile radius of the low-powered station can listen online but spotty internet reception makes listening online very difficult. It's even difficult for participants within the radius, to listen. Many have radios in camp but even more listen to the station from their cars. This is an obvious obstacle for the small station to work through, but they "hope to make Burning Man Information Radio a year-round affair, run as a nonprofit, open-source station over the Internet" by having Burning Man communities around the world provide content.
I chose to post this article because I found Sirius' next step very intriguing. Sirius XM has given hints of a new and improved version of itself and to be honest, I would want it. No confirmed details were leaked out as to exactly what was so great about this new version but from what the patents tell us, Sirius XM has made a version that will contain and 'thumbs up' and 'thumbs down' button that will let you chose content you like and eliminate content you don't like. What this means is that you will have a playlist of "your favorite songs mixed in with news that's relevant to you, along with scores from your teams and standup routines from your favorite comedians." Sounds great to me!
The reason I found this article so intriguing is that this exact model of tailoring your radio content to things you find interesting or relevant to your life, was supposed to be the "death" of XM radio. Instead, the cherished this model and have made it theirs.
Will the Internet Kill Traditional Car Radio?
By JOHN R. QUAIN
Published: May 7, 2010
Music services like Pandora, Slacker and Last.fm are being tailored by developers and automakers to work more seamlessly with car stereo systems.
Technology always seems to be changing in order to find a new and better way to deliver information; however, technology does have a unintended effect on some outside source, and in this case the way we have picture radio. Radio was always considered something to relax to or keep the average person company while at home, work, or in the car. Today the new form of radio consists of internet radio and IPods. The original form of radio is defiantly in for a battle if it wants to keep its listeners. Pandora is extending what radio could delivery and that is delivery music in a personalized way. While radio has not completely lost it control of the music and news business, it won't be for long until the internet flexes it true power and destroys our traditional way of hearing music.
Steven Goodsell
September 23
The new wave of radio is coming or is it?
The new HD radio is becoming more and more common in newer cars, and more radio stations are choosing to broadcast their signal in HD. As of now HD will not cost extra money; however, it will cost to purchase a system that can pick up the new HD signal. Today almost all radio stations are sending out an HD signal. I believe radio is trying to fight the satellite radio movement. Without additional cost HD radio offers a better audio and more radio stations to the listeners. Is HD radio really the next new wave technological advance in radio? Some fear is won't be because of the low awareness from consumer. There hasn't been a big push of consumer to buy the products to get HD radio, and the radio stations themselves have to pay high cost to get equipment. I guess we will have to wait and see if HD radio really catches on.
Kalie Everhart
September 23, 2010
Radio's Digital Future Revealed?
Due to available technology, radio is turning more digital. Stations such as NPR have caught onto the digital change. Younger generations are more consumed with their cellphones, iPods and iPhones that stations want to make sure they can be heard using whatever new technology. For example, according to the article, “Radio’s Digital Future Revealed”, NPR listeners can find the same quality programing on every digital device they own. This is important because it is said that Internet radio will fully take over the broadcast towers in a matter of five to ten years. In order for radio stations to progress, it is crucial that they be prepared for radio’s digital future.
Radio is trying to keep up with the technology. With the creation of applications that can be available on phones like the iPhone, radio stations are creating their own applications to broadcast their content. For example, ESPN Radio has created an application to let its listeners listen to the broadcast through their phone. In my opinion this is a much needed step to continue radio as a business to continue to be profitable. A person phone is always with them, an application like these always the radio format to be even more portable than before. These apps can be purchase for a small fee or in some cases many of your local radio music stations include a free app.
Kalie Everhart
October 14, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEXV8PLegSY&feature=related It is no surprise radio is constantly changing. Even though everything is taking a digital turn, AM and FM radio still have many features to draw in listeners which will be hard for online radio to replace. Ever radio station rely on their listeners. Fans are what generates ad revenue and money to continue the existence of stations. For instance, what AM and FM stations have over online radio sights, like Pandora, are promotions and constant over the air or at event giveaways. Promotions allows the public to meet the online personality face to face and be part of the experience. Tickets and other prizes are not only given away at promotional events but on air. Giving away tickets on air ensures that people are listening and gives incentives to listen for long periods of time and maybe raise the TSL. Promotional events and constant giveaways is what still sets AM and FM radio apart from online stations.
There are two bills currently pending in Congress about the so called "performance tax" so I wanted to explore more on the subject. I first google against the tax (and found TONS of sites and factual information) then googled for the tax (and found sites mainly based on opinion rather than facts). So I'm going to let it be known that I am against the performance tax. I think that after reading about both sides, that the relationship that local radio stations and artists have works, and has been working. Stations play artist's songs for free and artists get free promotion out of this. From what I understand, the tax would be put on radio stations and would benefit the labels and (supposedly artists) but after more research, I read a couple different sources that the labels would recieve at least 50% of the tax imposed.I see this tax as a way for the big 2 to make up what they may have lost in this economy and I think that it would definitely effect stations negatively, especially local stations. I do think that many would have to limit their variety of music, some would have to move to a talk radio style and eliminate music all together and worse, some would have to shut down completely. Almost everytime I've heard a new song for the first time, it has been on the radio. From there, I go and buy that artist's song and/or album and maybe even tickets to their concert. I radio stations having free play as being completely MINOR when it comes to money loss to artists and actually see radio stations as a huge benefit for artists because obviously more times than not, people hear their song first... on the radio.
On Wednesday October 27, 2010 Local Media of America (LMA) decided not to renew the contract established with The Broadcast Company of the Americas (BCA). LMA was producing a lot more revenue than BCA and decided it would be beneficial for the growth of LMA to expand the company and continue the efforts in making it more and more successful.
I have only been involved in radio since January 2010, since then, I have seen the company getting bought out, switching locations, the termination of the morning show and other DJ’s, as well as the company being bought out again. I knew business involved continuous change but it is interesting to me to see the vast amount of change ONE radio station has had in less then a year. I understand that radio is not what it was like twenty years ago but I feel like their is still hope to expand and create new ideas to blend in with the digital age.
By Mike Freeman
Wednesday, October 27, 2010 at 10:59 a.m.
Broadcast Company of the Americas is giving up control of three of the six San Diego radio stations that it has operated for several years, continuing a shake-up that began last month with the ouster of longtime Chief Executive John Lynch.
The reason this story caught my attention is the way BCA, a very strong and power company, is losing half of its control on the San Diego market. I’m sure that there is much more that is happening behind closed doors; however, it is pretty clear that radio is in a stage of change. Radio executives seem to be trying to maintain their control over the markets in order to maintain profits. I have noticed that many of my radio stations I have listened to have been changing over the last year. Could this be due to the reduction in listeners? I’m not totally sure, but I am confident that many more changes are in our future just like this story indicates people will be fired and radio stations may be changing ownership.
This article talks about the fact that there is an increase in all age groups, especially teenagers; the average American sends and receives 3,339 texts per month. This spike goes hand-in-hand with the increase in mobile internet, software downloads and streaming apps.
The site I got the article from is obviously tailored for radio and it's employees as the audience because it goes on to ask how they are using this information to widen their audience. It also asks what are you, as a station, doing that is different and what other services do you offer. I thought this was very appropriate because I think radio stations could be doing a lot more mobile-y. We tend to hear more about Pandora and YouTube, but nothing about local stations. I rarely hear on the radio about their apps to listen live through our mobile phones and I really think this piece of information could be taken advantage of. The teenage demographic is one of the hardest to hit and this could really be a way in if done right. Not to mention the widened audience and increased exposure the station and its events would have.
Report shows national advertisers how network radio can build audience reach quickly and efficiently across the U.S.
COLUMBIA, Md., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) today released its 2010 Network Radio Today, a national profile of network radio and its listeners. The report illustrates how network radio can rapidly build audience reach for advertisers who are targeting different demographic and socioeconomic groups.
About Arbitron
Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) is a media and marketing research firm serving the media – radio, television, cable and out-of-home – as well as advertisers and advertising agencies. Arbitron's core businesses are measuring network and local market radio audiences across the United States; surveying the retail, media and product patterns of local market consumers; and providing application software used for analyzing media audience and marketing information data. The company has developed the Portable People Meter and PPM 360™, new technologies for media and marketing research. Arbitron's job is to look at radio and investigate who, when, and why people are watching and the data they collect is passed on to both producers, consumers, and advertising agency to educate the radio industry. This story and report was conducted by Arbitron to show advertising agencies that radio can still be a productive advertising media. This can be seen as a good sign for radio to continue to making money, even in its down time; however, some skeptics may feel that Arbitron is a biased organization that intends to promote radio. If radio is perceived to be continuing a profitable business, Arbitron will benefit by being able to keep their jobs. Arbitron is paid by agencies to look into rating to determine future involvement. This partnership could lead to self serving information and studies.
Ford Sync- A new form of technology that might change how we listen to music in the car.
Ford Sync is a brand new form of technology that was recently implemented in the new 2011 Ford vehicles. Some of the sync features include hand free calling, turn by turn directions, 911 assistance, music search , traffic alerts and so much more. This new system is extremely high tech and can hinder broadcast radio. This system is like your personal voice command computer which goes with you where ever and is with you whenever you might need assistance. Ford Sync also has internet access which makes it easy to access your favorite online radio stations like pandora and slacker. It is safer too because everything is voice activated which allows you to keep your focus on the road. This overall system will benefit online radio sites but can potentially negatively effect broadcast radio. Jenn Young Nov. 4, 2010
A new report titled “The American Youth Study 2010” a large number of young listeners, age 12-24 are migrating from radio listening to the internet. “Young media consumers now spend 2:52 every day on the Internet, and just 1:14 listening to radio. Only television watching comes close to on line use among this group: 2:47 a day.” 74 percent of young listeners listened to the radio in 2000 and in 2010, there was a whopping decrease to only 41 percent!
So will Pandora kill radio? Based on this report, no. Although terrestrial radio has been outdone by the internet, the study also shows that young consumers are actually listening to the radio more than in 2000. Pandora and other internet radio sites have their perks like being able to skip songs, having fewer commercials, playing a wider variety of music and being able to personalize the station, however the study shows that terrestrial radio still remains to be the leading source for learning about new music, concert information, and what’s popular not to mention a majority of people do like to have an on air personality. “…unlike Pandora, it still has a few deejays around (especially at college radio stations) who make human rather than genome/database decisions about music.”
So I think that as long as terrestrial radio continues to have actually human in local stations that surround themselves in the music industry and local community AND continue to share information that their audience may be interested in, the need for radio will continue.
The article above discusses the recent challenges broadcast radio has faced in the last couple of years. The article juxtaposes televisions Nielsen ratings to radio’s Arbitron ratings. It describes how the television medium is not afraid to share it’s ratings with society. Sharing ratings is what helps keep the audience engaged and informed about certain programs. Nonetheless, it is impossible for the normal audience to find any Arbitron ratings. It is said that if Arbitron ratings were easy to find and research as Nielsen ratings were then it would prove to society the misconceptions people have about broadcast radio and help individuals become more engaged with the particular medium
RadioTime in Dallas, TX announced the official launch of a service that lets users search through local and online radio stations for specific songs or artists. This new service won't replace fee-based, on-demand music at this point because when the song you choose comes over the radio, it's usually half way through. What is good about this service is that it allows you to find stations that play music of your liking. This could be really good for local radio stations as well as online radio (if they are currently podcasting) in terms of exposure, but finding a way to monetize on this has still not been figured out.
Kalie Everhart
September 16, 2010
If most of you are not aware, the 91X morning show was taken off the air in May 2010. This was a big turn for the station because 91X decided to take a different route from most radio stations. The Mickey show being bought out by 91X’s competitor, 94.9 allowed there to not only be a battle with music but morning shows as well. 91X decided to experiment and strictly play music in the morning to see if the Arbitron ratings would boost. Unfortunately, for Matt Diablo and his witty crew, this method was effective. This is one example of how radio is constantly changing. Due to the technology available, people are more interested in listening to music then people speak. In the past year alone, Jeff and Jer, Dave, Shelly, Chainsaw and now 91X morning show are all history. This shows that the industry are not looking so much for personalities anymore, but people who can just run the technology effectively and properly.
Jenn Young
Sept. 16, 2010
94.5 Burning Man Radio
Burning Man Festival's low-powered radio station has big dreams... and they're doing it!
The Burning Man Festival (BMF) created a low-power radio station to comply with the Bureau of Land Management, which said that the festival needed to have a communication system in place to alert its participants of crucial health and safety issues. The radio station, 94.5 BMIR, started off as an "information" radio station but has currently grown to include 24-hour entertainment throughout the week-long festival. The station's main purpose is still to provide important information to its participants but has recently discovered that, "if you want people to hear key safety messages, you have to create a programming they want to listen to." (Carmen Mauk, Station Founder)
BMIR not only provides news, weather and traffic reports, but now also transmits interviews with artists and participants, plays a wide range of music, and allows participants to make announcements and share the views.
BMIR is no easy accomplishment with the desert's harsh weather. The 100-crew of volunteers are constantly having to "patching things up," not to mention the issue of audience reception. Listeners outside of the five-mile radius of the low-powered station can listen online but spotty internet reception makes listening online very difficult. It's even difficult for participants within the radius, to listen. Many have radios in camp but even more listen to the station from their cars. This is an obvious obstacle for the small station to work through, but they "hope to make Burning Man Information Radio a year-round affair, run as a nonprofit, open-source station over the Internet" by having Burning Man communities around the world provide content.
Burning Man Radio Steps Out of the Box
Sept. 23, 2010
Get Ready for a NEW and Improved Sirius XM
I chose to post this article because I found Sirius' next step very intriguing. Sirius XM has given hints of a new and improved version of itself and to be honest, I would want it. No confirmed details were leaked out as to exactly what was so great about this new version but from what the patents tell us, Sirius XM has made a version that will contain and 'thumbs up' and 'thumbs down' button that will let you chose content you like and eliminate content you don't like. What this means is that you will have a playlist of "your favorite songs mixed in with news that's relevant to you, along with scores from your teams and standup routines from your favorite comedians." Sounds great to me!
The reason I found this article so intriguing is that this exact model of tailoring your radio content to things you find interesting or relevant to your life, was supposed to be the "death" of XM radio. Instead, the cherished this model and have made it theirs.
Steven Goodsell
Septemeber 17, 2010
Is Technology going to change the way radio operates?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/automobiles/09RADIO.html
Will the Internet Kill Traditional Car Radio?
By JOHN R. QUAIN
Published: May 7, 2010
Music services like Pandora, Slacker and Last.fm are being tailored by developers and automakers to work more seamlessly with car stereo systems.
Technology always seems to be changing in order to find a new and better way to deliver information; however, technology does have a unintended effect on some outside source, and in this case the way we have picture radio. Radio was always considered something to relax to or keep the average person company while at home, work, or in the car. Today the new form of radio consists of internet radio and IPods. The original form of radio is defiantly in for a battle if it wants to keep its listeners. Pandora is extending what radio could delivery and that is delivery music in a personalized way. While radio has not completely lost it control of the music and news business, it won't be for long until the internet flexes it true power and destroys our traditional way of hearing music.
Steven Goodsell
September 23
The new wave of radio is coming or is it?
The new HD radio is becoming more and more common in newer cars, and more radio stations are choosing to broadcast their signal in HD. As of now HD will not cost extra money; however, it will cost to purchase a system that can pick up the new HD signal. Today almost all radio stations are sending out an HD signal. I believe radio is trying to fight the satellite radio movement. Without additional cost HD radio offers a better audio and more radio stations to the listeners. Is HD radio really the next new wave technological advance in radio? Some fear is won't be because of the low awareness from consumer. There hasn't been a big push of consumer to buy the products to get HD radio, and the radio stations themselves have to pay high cost to get equipment. I guess we will have to wait and see if HD radio really catches on.
Kalie Everhart
September 23, 2010
Radio's Digital Future Revealed?
Due to available technology, radio is turning more digital. Stations such as NPR have caught onto the digital change. Younger generations are more consumed with their cellphones, iPods and iPhones that stations want to make sure they can be heard using whatever new technology. For example, according to the article, “Radio’s Digital Future Revealed”, NPR listeners can find the same quality programing on every digital device they own. This is important because it is said that Internet radio will fully take over the broadcast towers in a matter of five to ten years. In order for radio stations to progress, it is crucial that they be prepared for radio’s digital future.
http://harkerresearch.typepad.com/radioinsights/2010/08/radios-digital-future-revealed.html
Steven Goodsell
October 14, 2010http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=2000252http://www.youtube.com/watch?http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=2000252=GEXV8PLegSY&feature=related
Radio is trying to keep up with the technology. With the creation of applications that can be available on phones like the iPhone, radio stations are creating their own applications to broadcast their content. For example, ESPN Radio has created an application to let its listeners listen to the broadcast through their phone. In my opinion this is a much needed step to continue radio as a business to continue to be profitable. A person phone is always with them, an application like these always the radio format to be even more portable than before. These apps can be purchase for a small fee or in some cases many of your local radio music stations include a free app.Kalie Everhart
October 14, 2010http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEXV8PLegSY&feature=related
It is no surprise radio is constantly changing. Even though everything is taking a digital turn, AM and FM radio still have many features to draw in listeners which will be hard for online radio to replace. Ever radio station rely on their listeners. Fans are what generates ad revenue and money to continue the existence of stations. For instance, what AM and FM stations have over online radio sights, like Pandora, are promotions and constant over the air or at event giveaways. Promotions allows the public to meet the online personality face to face and be part of the experience. Tickets and other prizes are not only given away at promotional events but on air. Giving away tickets on air ensures that people are listening and gives incentives to listen for long periods of time and maybe raise the TSL. Promotional events and constant giveaways is what still sets AM and FM radio apart from online stations.
Jenn Young
October 14, 2010
No Performance Tax
There are two bills currently pending in Congress about the so called "performance tax" so I wanted to explore more on the subject. I first google against the tax (and found TONS of sites and factual information) then googled for the tax (and found sites mainly based on opinion rather than facts). So I'm going to let it be known that I am against the performance tax. I think that after reading about both sides, that the relationship that local radio stations and artists have works, and has been working. Stations play artist's songs for free and artists get free promotion out of this. From what I understand, the tax would be put on radio stations and would benefit the labels and (supposedly artists) but after more research, I read a couple different sources that the labels would recieve at least 50% of the tax imposed.I see this tax as a way for the big 2 to make up what they may have lost in this economy and I think that it would definitely effect stations negatively, especially local stations. I do think that many would have to limit their variety of music, some would have to move to a talk radio style and eliminate music all together and worse, some would have to shut down completely.
Almost everytime I've heard a new song for the first time, it has been on the radio. From there, I go and buy that artist's song and/or album and maybe even tickets to their concert. I radio stations having free play as being completely MINOR when it comes to money loss to artists and actually see radio stations as a huge benefit for artists because obviously more times than not, people hear their song first... on the radio.
Kalie Everhart
October 27, 2010
http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=2000252
On Wednesday October 27, 2010 Local Media of America (LMA) decided not to renew the contract established with The Broadcast Company of the Americas (BCA). LMA was producing a lot more revenue than BCA and decided it would be beneficial for the growth of LMA to expand the company and continue the efforts in making it more and more successful.
I have only been involved in radio since January 2010, since then, I have seen the company getting bought out, switching locations, the termination of the morning show and other DJ’s, as well as the company being bought out again. I knew business involved continuous change but it is interesting to me to see the vast amount of change ONE radio station has had in less then a year. I understand that radio is not what it was like twenty years ago but I feel like their is still hope to expand and create new ideas to blend in with the digital age.
Steven Goodsell
October 28, 2010
Local Radio Station Changes Full Story
Local radio stations see changes
By Mike FreemanWednesday, October 27, 2010 at 10:59 a.m.
Broadcast Company of the Americas is giving up control of three of the six San Diego radio stations that it has operated for several years, continuing a shake-up that began last month with the ouster of longtime Chief Executive John Lynch.
The reason this story caught my attention is the way BCA, a very strong and power company, is losing half of its control on the San Diego market. I’m sure that there is much more that is happening behind closed doors; however, it is pretty clear that radio is in a stage of change. Radio executives seem to be trying to maintain their control over the markets in order to maintain profits. I have noticed that many of my radio stations I have listened to have been changing over the last year. Could this be due to the reduction in listeners? I’m not totally sure, but I am confident that many more changes are in our future just like this story indicates people will be fired and radio stations may be changing ownership.
Jenn Young
October 28, 2010
Radio and mobile phones
What is your plan for mobile?
This article talks about the fact that there is an increase in all age groups, especially teenagers; the average American sends and receives 3,339 texts per month. This spike goes hand-in-hand with the increase in mobile internet, software downloads and streaming apps.
The site I got the article from is obviously tailored for radio and it's employees as the audience because it goes on to ask how they are using this information to widen their audience. It also asks what are you, as a station, doing that is different and what other services do you offer. I thought this was very appropriate because I think radio stations could be doing a lot more mobile-y. We tend to hear more about Pandora and YouTube, but nothing about local stations. I rarely hear on the radio about their apps to listen live through our mobile phones and I really think this piece of information could be taken advantage of. The teenage demographic is one of the hardest to hit and this could really be a way in if done right. Not to mention the widened audience and increased exposure the station and its events would have.
Steven Goodsell
November 4, 2010
Arbitron Releases 2010 Network Radio Today Full StoryArbitron Releases 2010 Network Radio Today
Report shows national advertisers how network radio can build audience reach quickly and efficiently across the U.S.
COLUMBIA, Md., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) today released its 2010 Network Radio Today, a national profile of network radio and its listeners. The report illustrates how network radio can rapidly build audience reach for advertisers who are targeting different demographic and socioeconomic groups.About Arbitron
Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) is a media and marketing research firm serving the media – radio, television, cable and out-of-home – as well as advertisers and advertising agencies. Arbitron's core businesses are measuring network and local market radio audiences across the United States; surveying the retail, media and product patterns of local market consumers; and providing application software used for analyzing media audience and marketing information data. The company has developed the Portable People Meter and PPM 360™, new technologies for media and marketing research.
Arbitron's job is to look at radio and investigate who, when, and why people are watching and the data they collect is passed on to both producers, consumers, and advertising agency to educate the radio industry. This story and report was conducted by Arbitron to show advertising agencies that radio can still be a productive advertising media. This can be seen as a good sign for radio to continue to making money, even in its down time; however, some skeptics may feel that Arbitron is a biased organization that intends to promote radio. If radio is perceived to be continuing a profitable business, Arbitron will benefit by being able to keep their jobs. Arbitron is paid by agencies to look into rating to determine future involvement. This partnership could lead to self serving information and studies.
Kalie Everhart
November 4, 2010
Ford Sync
Ford Sync- A new form of technology that might change how we listen to music in the car.
Ford Sync is a brand new form of technology that was recently implemented in the new 2011 Ford vehicles. Some of the sync features include hand free calling, turn by turn directions, 911 assistance, music search , traffic alerts and so much more. This new system is extremely high tech and can hinder broadcast radio. This system is like your personal voice command computer which goes with you where ever and is with you whenever you might need assistance. Ford Sync also has internet access which makes it easy to access your favorite online radio stations like pandora and slacker. It is safer too because everything is voice activated which allows you to keep your focus on the road. This overall system will benefit online radio sites but can potentially negatively effect broadcast radio.
Jenn Young
Nov. 4, 2010
Are The Likes Of Pandora Poised To Kill AM/FM Radio?
A new report titled “The American Youth Study 2010” a large number of young listeners, age 12-24 are migrating from radio listening to the internet. “Young media consumers now spend 2:52 every day on the Internet, and just 1:14 listening to radio. Only television watching comes close to on line use among this group: 2:47 a day.” 74 percent of young listeners listened to the radio in 2000 and in 2010, there was a whopping decrease to only 41 percent!
So will Pandora kill radio? Based on this report, no. Although terrestrial radio has been outdone by the internet, the study also shows that young consumers are actually listening to the radio more than in 2000. Pandora and other internet radio sites have their perks like being able to skip songs, having fewer commercials, playing a wider variety of music and being able to personalize the station, however the study shows that terrestrial radio still remains to be the leading source for learning about new music, concert information, and what’s popular not to mention a majority of people do like to have an on air personality. “…unlike Pandora, it still has a few deejays around (especially at college radio stations) who make human rather than genome/database decisions about music.”
So I think that as long as terrestrial radio continues to have actually human in local stations that surround themselves in the music industry and local community AND continue to share information that their audience may be interested in, the need for radio will continue.
Kalie Everhart
November 14, 2010
Radio InsightsIs Arbitron’s Secrecy Hurting Radio?
The article above discusses the recent challenges broadcast radio has faced in the last couple of years. The article juxtaposes televisions Nielsen ratings to radio’s Arbitron ratings. It describes how the television medium is not afraid to share it’s ratings with society. Sharing ratings is what helps keep the audience engaged and informed about certain programs. Nonetheless, it is impossible for the normal audience to find any Arbitron ratings. It is said that if Arbitron ratings were easy to find and research as Nielsen ratings were then it would prove to society the misconceptions people have about broadcast radio and help individuals become more engaged with the particular mediumJenn Young
Nov. 17, 2010
RadioTime: Finding Needle in the Webcasting Haystack
RadioTime in Dallas, TX announced the official launch of a service that lets users search through local and online radio stations for specific songs or artists. This new service won't replace fee-based, on-demand music at this point because when the song you choose comes over the radio, it's usually half way through. What is good about this service is that it allows you to find stations that play music of your liking. This could be really good for local radio stations as well as online radio (if they are currently podcasting) in terms of exposure, but finding a way to monetize on this has still not been figured out.